Northern Ireland’s new first minister Michelle O’Neill ‘contests’ claim Irish unity is ‘decades’ away
Northern Ireland’s new first minister has told Sky News she “absolutely contests” the UK government’s claim that a referendum on Irish unity is decades away.
Sinn Fein‘s Michelle O’Neill, the first nationalist to occupy the office, described her elevation at Stormont as “a historic day, truly representing a new dawn”.
In a document, outlining the basis of the DUP‘s return to power-sharing, the UK government said it saw “no realistic prospect of a border poll”.
Ms O’Neill in the Great Hall at Stormont before being appointed first minister Pic: PA
But Ms O’Neill said: “I would absolutely contest what the British government have said in that document, in so far as my election to the post of first minister demonstrates the change that’s happening on this island.
“That’s a good thing. It’s a healthy thing because this change I think can benefit us all.
“I believe that we’re in the decade of opportunity and I believe, also equally, that we can do two things at once.
“We can have power-sharing, we can make it stable, we can work together every day in terms of public services, and whilst we also pursue our equally legitimate aspirations.
“There are so many things that are changing. All the old norms, the nature of this state, the fact that a nationalist republican was never supposed to be first minister. That all speaks to the change,” she added.
Ms O’Neill grew up in the “murder triangle” in County Tyrone. Her father was an IRA prisoner and her cousin was shot dead by the SAS.
But having pledged to be a “first minister for all”, she broke with republican tradition by using the term “Northern Ireland” in her acceptance speech.
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“I’m somebody who wants to be a unifier. I’m somebody that wants to bring people together.
“We’ve had a difficult past, a turbulent past. A lot of harm was caused in the past and I think it’s so, so important that here in 2024, and we’ve just celebrated the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement last year, that we very much look towards the future.
“I hope I can represent the future. I believe I can represent the future, as somebody who wants to work with all communities.
“I obviously am a republican, a proud republican, but I think it’s really, really important that I can look towards those people who identify as Irish republicans, but also those of a British identity and unionist identity and tell them that I respect their values, I respect their culture.”
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Michelle O’Neill sworn in as NI First Minister
Asked if her pledge meant she would consider attending a Protestant Orange Order march, she said: “I will consider every invitation that comes my way.
“I’m hoping that I get invitations. I want to step into ground that republicanism hasn’t stepped into before,” she added.
Watch the full interview with Michelle O’Neill on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News from 8.30am.
The CARF regulation, which brings crypto under global tax reporting standards akin to traditional finance, marks a crucial turning point.
The nascent real-world tokenized assets track prices but do not provide investors the same legal rights as holding the underlying instruments.
Rachel Reeves has hinted that taxes are likely to be raised this autumn after a major U-turn on the government’s controversial welfare bill.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill passed through the House of Commons on Tuesday after multiple concessions and threats of a major rebellion.
MPs ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to universal credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.
Initially aimed at saving £5.5bn, it now leaves the government with an estimated £5.5bn black hole – close to breaching Ms Reeves’s fiscal rules set out last year.
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Rachel Reeves’s fiscal dilemma
In an interview with The Guardian, the chancellor did not rule out tax rises later in the year, saying there were “costs” to watering down the welfare bill.
“I’m not going to [rule out tax rises], because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that,” Ms Reeves told the outlet.
“We took the decisions last year to draw a line under unfunded commitments and economic mismanagement.
“So we’ll never have to do something like that again. But there are costs to what happened.”
Meanwhile, The Times reported that, ahead of the Commons vote on the welfare bill, Ms Reeves told cabinet ministers the decision to offer concessions would mean taxes would have to be raised.
The outlet reported that the chancellor said the tax rises would be smaller than those announced in the 2024 budget, but that she is expected to have to raise tens of billions more.
It comes after Ms Reeves said she was “totally” up to continuing as chancellor after appearing tearful at Prime Minister’s Questions.
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Why was the chancellor crying at PMQs?
Criticising Sir Keir for the U-turns on benefit reform during PMQs, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the chancellor looked “absolutely miserable”, and questioned whether she would remain in post until the next election.
Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she would, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”
In her first comments after the incident, Ms Reeves said she was having a “tough day” before adding: “People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday.
“Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job.”
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Reeves is ‘totally’ up for the job
Sir Keir also told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby on Thursday that he “didn’t appreciate” that Ms Reeves was crying in the Commons.
“In PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang,” he said. “That’s what it was yesterday.
“And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that’s just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation.”
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